The US Senate, Aging in Place?
When Our Elected Representatives Can No Longer Do Their Jobs
This is another entry in Civic Way’s journal on current events, and their relevance to our future governance. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and a management consultant with over 45 years of experience improving public agencies.
On November 27, 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were brutally murdered in their offices by Supervisor Dan White.
Within days, Supervisor Dianne Feinstein became the City’s 38th (and first female) mayor. She ably led the City for ten years. Thanks in no small part to her steady hand, the City survived those dark days (including White’s trial).
In 1992, Feinstein become a US Senator (and the nation’s first female Jewish Senator). She soon won praise as a hard-working moderate, sponsoring hundreds of bills, defying her party on some issues and working across the aisle on others (e.g., fuel economy standards and the CIA’s detention and interrogation program).
Feinstein’s career deserves our respect. She was the first woman to chair the Senate Rules and Intelligence committees. She got things done. In the face of the National Rifle Association’s fierce opposition, she secured the passage of the 1994 assault weapons ban. Other successes included her work to save Lake Tahoe and create the Death Valley and Joshua Tree National parks.
Today, Feinstein’s career is winding down. At 88, she is the oldest US Senator and facing disquieting doubts about her mental fitness. With her term ending in 2025, her proud career may not end on a high note. Since 2018, due in part to her handling of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, there have been whispers about her performance. A recent San Francisco Chronicle story chronicled several subsequent examples of her decline.
Feinstein is by no means the first person to face this issue. Some have fought valiantly to delay the inevitable. John McCain, for example, battled cancer to continue serving his beloved Arizona. Others seemed to confuse Congress with a lavish nursing home. Former Senators Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd, for example, stayed too long (Thurmond held his seat until he was 100).
Our Capitol increasingly resembles a gerontocracy. President Biden is 79 years old and former President Trump will be 76 in June. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 82, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell 80 and Vermont Senator Pat Leahy 82. At 88, Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is running for reelection later this year (if he wins, which seems likely, he will be 95 at the end of his next term).
What will Senator Feinstein do? The answer lies with her (or her staff). We can hope that she decides to retire with honor, but the initial signals aren’t encouraging. If her decline is real, her refusal to retire would be at the expense of her constituents (nearly 40 million Californians).
Some argue that Senator Feinstein has earned the right to make this decision. It is certainly her legal right. However, the question is not her right to decide, but, rather, her ability to serve. She occupies a sacred public office not to retain her status or staff, but to represent all Californians. If she can no longer do so, she should resign.
Of course, Feinstein is not the Senate’s only challenge. With an average age of 64 years, this is the oldest US Senate in our nation’s history. And the institution’s favorability ratings, while dreadful, aren’t solely attributable to concerns about Senate senility. Afterall, Rand Paul is 59, Ted Cruz 51 and Josh Hawley 42. Their dubious contributions to the public arena have by no means diminished with age.
While Feinstein deserves better than the “off-the-record” gossip about her deteriorating memory, she doesn’t deserve the job if she can no longer perform it. If her capacity is diminished, she should resign with dignity.
But what if she doesn’t? What can be done when elected officials refuse to resign when their capacity slips? When their staffs hide their infirmities? When they become mere placeholders?
Allowing Congress members to remain beyond their ability to serve their constituents—allowing Congress to become an even older institution—will not restore public faith in our democracy. Term limits may not be advisable, but age limits are. While no substitute for well-informed voters, age limits will at least make Congress younger and, hopefully, more representative and credible.
For dedicated public servants like Senator Feinstein, age limits would make it easier to leave the public stage in dignity. And they would make it easier for the rest of us to remember their contributions to the public good.